The Warm-Up: Did we ever really think Jose Mourinho had changed?
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Updated 24/12/2019 at 09:05 GMT
He was a new man, a better man, a different man, apparently. Actually, as it turns out, Jose Mourinho's mask has already slipped
Jose Mourinho, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Image credit: Getty Images
CHRISTMAS EVE’S BIG STORIES
Jose Mourinho hasn’t changed
In his 11 months out of management, Jose Mourinho did a terrific job of presenting a slightly different image of himself to the world. He was on TV a lot, he gave interviews in which he was magnanimous, admitted mistakes, he seemed calm and didn’t instinctively go for the outrageous and the shocking in his proclamations.
Had Mourinho changed? Was he a new man? When he returned to management with Tottenham, was he different? Calmer? Less likely to arrive at a club, scorch the earth with gusto and depart leaving a wreck and a series of broken spirits? Was he nicer, kinder?
It’s taken about a month for the mask to slip. In the game between Spurs and Chelsea at the weekend, a couple of things happened to Antonio Rudiger: firstly, he was the subject of some alleged racial abuse from a fan, and secondly Son Heung-min was sent off for kicking out at him, the impact of which he probably exaggerated. No prizes for guessing which one Mourinho chose to focus on.
I hope the Premier League is still the Premier League and will always be the Premier League and I think the focus should be on Antonio Rudiger and not on Son. I’m not speaking about the racism incident, this is another thing. I am speaking about that incident, the red card. In the Premier League I love there is no space also for what Rudiger did. Stand up and play man. This is the Premier League. In some countries, especially now Latin cultures, you go to Latin America, Portugal, Spain, Italy and that happens, it is a cultural thing, but not in the Premier League, and the moment we try to punish the reaction of some player, insignificant reaction, but you try to punish and you let it go the other one, it is because then you become part of it. That’s why I was trying to joke and making a bit of fun about it. Come on, do you think Rudiger plays the next game or do you think he’s injured? I think he plays. And we speak about Son and don’t speak about him.
Maybe Mourinho was just defending his own player, showing solidarity with a man he believed had been unfairly sent off. He’s almost certainly attempting to deflect attention from an abject performance and a game in which he was tactically out-thought by one of his own apprentices, who is in only his second season as a manager. But on a day when the player he was trying to take down suffered racial abuse, perhaps he could have left it, just this once.
But that’s Jose Mourinho. He hasn’t changed, he never will, and it’s pretty foolish to think he had done.
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I fear more cases of racism - Jose Mourinho
Man arrested for Son racial abuse
The more serious matter in that game was the racial abuse coming from the terraces, and it turns out it was even worse than we feared at the time. Three times a message was broadcast over the PA warning that the game was being disrupted by racial abuse, but at the time we all thought the only incident was against Rudiger.
However, it was announced on Monday that a Chelsea fan has been arrested for allegedly racially abusing Son Heung-min, something that the Spurs forward didn’t hear and was reported by other Chelsea fans.
As for Rudiger, Spurs released a statement on Monday confirming that they are investigating the matter, but that so far their findings have been “inconclusive”. The statement said:
We are able to track every fan via the cameras and have spent many hours reviewing CCTV footage. We have engaged lip readers to study the footage and contacted Chelsea for further information from their players. We have also taken statements from other parties present at the time. The police will be reviewing our evidence alongside us. Please be assured we shall be exhaustively investigating this matter... At this time however we should point out that our findings are inconclusive and would ask that comment is reserved until the facts are established.
“This can’t be Milan”
Whenever you talk about the struggles of a big club, you always have to be slightly reticent about going too far, because of the “there’s always someone less fortunate” rule. So if you’re a Manchester United fan bemoaning the state of things at your club and how awful it is that they might finish eighth this year, remember there’s a club down the road in Bury that has just disappeared.
Still, that obviously doesn’t mean they can’t complain, so that brings us to Milan, who are going through something of an existential crisis at the moment, the low point of which came at the weekend when they were on the thick end of an absolute hosing by Atalanta. The final score was 5-0, and by all accounts it could’ve been more, and presumably what made it more painful was that the loss was to a previously smaller team on the up.
“The performance wasn’t there,” said the club’s chief football officer Zvonimir Boban, a former Milan player. “It hurts a lot, it was embarrassing, this can’t be Milan. It was very painful to see their [Atalanta’s] domination.”
Milan haven’t won a major trophy since their last Serie A title in 2011, and while nobody in Italy has had much of a sniff in the interim as Juventus have dominated ever since, the club have seemed to excel in making the wrong decision at basically every turn since, whether that’s managers (they’ve had eight since Max Allegri left in 2014), players or owners. It’s almost impressive how bad some of their calls have been, and it’s tough to see how they get out of this in a hurry.
“We wanted to be competitive right away. But recreating Berlusconi’s Milan in a year or two is impossible,” Boban said. “It’s not going to be a good Christmas.”
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: This guy
Pick. That. One. Out.
Zero: Ethan Ampadu’s hair
Look, quite frankly who are we to criticise the choices of footballers in their personal lives, it makes absolutely no difference to us and of course Ethan Ampadu can keep his dreadlocks, cut off the dreadlocks, cut off half the dreadlocks, fashion the dreadlocks into a nativity scene and balance that on his head: it’s none of our concern.
But still…this is weird.
HAT TIP
It is never about my skill when I am compared to other strikers,” he said. “My one-on-one dribbling is good. I can do a step-over. I can beat a player. I remember one comment from a journalist that United should not sign Lukaku because he is not an ‘intelligent’ footballer.” That one, he said, stung. It is what he calls the “pace and power element,” and it is hard not to wonder if he is seen that way because he is black. Research by Cynthia Frisby of the University of Missouri has found that black athletes are more likely to be portrayed in the news media as “innately physically gifted, yet lacking in intelligence and strong work ethics.”
For the New York Times, Rory Smith interviewed Romelu Lukaku about playing in Italy with Inter, racism and why he left Manchester United.
RETRO CORNER
It being this festive time of year, what better way to celebrate than with a compilation of goals from Antonio di Natale – or Tony Christmas, to you. Cut yourself a thick slice of Panettone and enjoy.
COMING UP
Nothing! Obviously nothing! Until Boxing Day when you can watch football from noon to 10pm!
Until then, the Warm-Up wishes you a very happy Christmas, hopefully you have a marvellous time and we’ll see you on the 26th, when Andi Thomas will be here to guide you through that day’s avalanche of games.
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